Trolley-wheel for electric tram-cars.



No. 722,189. PATENTED MAR. s, 1903.

A. SELZ. TROLLEY WHEEL FOR ELECTRIC TRAM CARS.

APPLIGATION FILED NOV. 14, 1902.

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ADOLF SELZ, OF FLEMINGSBURG, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO DORA SELZ, OF FLEMINGSBURG, KENTUCKY.

TROLLEY-WHEEL FOR ELECTRIC TRAM- 'CARS.

$PECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 722,189, dated March 3, 1903.

Application filed November 14, 1902. Serial No. 131.368. (No model- To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADOLF SELZ, a subject of the German Emperor, residing at Flemingsburg, in the county of Fleming and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Construction of the Trolley-Wheel on Electric Tram Cars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to trolleys for elecro tric railways; and the object of the invention is to provide a simple article of this character having means to prevent the trolleywheel or its equivalent leaving the conductor when turns or curves in the latter are encountered. The conductor may be either an over head or underground wire.

In order to accomplish the result set forth, I mount the trolley-wheel for lateral yieldable movement, so that when a curve in the conductor is reached the said wheel may move sidewise without leaving said conductor, and the wheel is arranged to move in opposite directions from a central position. a

The improved trolley is shown in one simple embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which- Figurel is a front elevation of said trolley, and Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the 0 trolley-wheel and its immediate supporting means.

Like characters refer to like parts in both figures.

Referring to said drawings, the numeral 1 3 5 indicates a trolley -pole or its equivalent mounted in the usual way upon the top of a car, and to the opposite sides of the upper end of said pole are fastened the arms 2, which are angularly disposed and which diverge up- 0 wardly away from each other, the arms terminating in extensions 3", which, it will be seen, are approximately in parallelism with the trolley-pole and which are united by the rigid bar 4:, constituting a suitable support for the trolley-wheel 5, the latter of which is peripherally grooved, although this is not essential. The bar 4 is surrounded by the jacket or tube 6, which is substantially coextensive therewith and which consists of three sections, the outer ones being rigidly 5o united to the bar 4, while the intermediate and short section is loose on the bar, in order to rotate on the same, and passes through the center of the trolley-wheel 5. The arms 2 and three-part sleeve or tube 6 and trolleywheel 5 are usually, although not necessarily, made of copper, while the bar or rod is formed of steel, and the outer sections of the tube 6 may be welded in some suitable manner to the steel bar or rod 4.

The outer sections of the three-part sleeve or tube 6 are surrounded by the coiled pushsprings 7, the outer ends of which are fastened in some convenient way to the corresponding ends of said tube-sections, while the inner or free ends of said springs, which are ordinarily made of steel, have enlargements or heads 8 bearing against the opposite faces of the trolley-wheel 5 and serving to yieldingly maintain said trolley-wheel in its cen- 7o tral position.

As the trolley-wheel 5 travels along a conductor and reaches a curve it will be moved sidewise in one direction or the other, in accordance with the direction of the curve, thereby placing one or the other of the springs 7 under compression, so that when the curve is passed and a straight line reached the compressed spring will turn the trolley-wheel to its central position. Frequently when curves are reached the trolley-Wheels jump or leave the conductor, owing to the fact that there is no provision for lateral motion. By mounting the trolley-wheel so that it is free to move laterally there is no possibility of the same leaving the conductor when the same reaches a curve in the same.

From the foregoing description it will be evident that my improved device involves a trolley-pole having a bifurcated upper end, 0 the branches of which are united by a member upon which the trolley-wheel is rotatably carried, and although the branches of the bifurcations have been hereinbefore described as separate from the trolley-pole the inven- 5 tion is not limited in this respect, for this construction is not a necessary one.

The invention is not limited to the precise construction hereinbefore described,for many variations may be adopted within the scope of my claims.

Having described the invention, what I 5 claim is- 1. The combination of a trolley-pole having a bifurcated upper end, a bar uniting branches of the bifurcation, a sleeve consisting of a plurality of parts surrounding the bar, the outer sections of the sleeve being rigid with the bar and the intermediate section being free to rotate on said bar, a trolley-wheel carried by said intermediate section, and yieldable means for normally holding the trolley-wheel in its normal or central position.

2. The combination of a trolley-pole having a bifurcated upper end, a bar uniting branches of the bifurcation, a sleeve consisting of a plurality of parts surrounding the bar, the outer sections of the sleeve being rigid with the bar and the intermediate section being free to rotate on said bar, a trolley-wheel carried by said intermediate sec- 25 tion, coiled springs surrounding said sleeve suitably fastened at their outer ends, their inner ends being free and bearing against the side faces of the trolley-wheel.

3. The combination of a trolley-polehaving a bifurcated upper end, a bar uniting branches of the bifurcation, a sleeve consisting of a plurality of parts surrounding the bar, the outer sections of the sleeve being rigid with the bar and the intermediate section being free to rotate on said bar, a. trolley-wheel carried by said intermediate section, coiled springs surrounding the outer sections of the sleeve, the outer ends of the springs being fastened to the sleeve and the inner ends of the springs being free and enlarged and bearing against the side faces of the trolley-wheel.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ADOLF SELZ.

Witnesses:

J. M. MOINTIRE, E. Sam. 

